Petit Bateau was sold to a turnaround fund — after a year the unions called encouraging

On 15 January 2025 Groupe Rocher told employee representatives it was selling Petit Bateau, the children's wear and underwear house it had owned since 1988. The inter-union response, a week later, set the tone of the year: CGT, FO, CFE-CGC and CFTC accused the owner of a 'drip-feed' information strategy designed to prevent mobilisation, and warned of an enterprise 'bradée' — sold off on the cheap — with the employees 'sacrificed'. The surprise, they noted, was that 2024 had been an encouraging year.

The buyer was announced on 4 September 2025: Regent, the US fund that specialises in reviving heritage brands — its portfolio work includes DIM, Bally and La Senza. Groupe Rocher's statement said Regent had been selected 'to accelerate Petit Bateau's development', pledging that the brand's artisanal traditions, French identity and local roots would be preserved. The consultation with employee representative bodies was still running; no final signature had been made.

What was being handed over: 2,400 employees by Groupe Rocher's count — 1,400 in France, 600 of them in retail, and 1,000 internationally — across three sites including the factory and logistics base in Troyes and a factory in Morocco. The union count ran higher, at more than 3,000 jobs worldwide. The business itself was not in freefall: BtoC sales rose 2.7% in the first half of 2025, e-commerce grew 5.6% in France and 8.3% in Japan.

The shape of the case is a portfolio decision, not a rescue. Groupe Rocher refocused on beauty and care and let a growing-enough clothing brand go to specialists in turning heritage names around — leaving Troyes to find out what that specialisation costs.